Team Lotus Enterprises has confirmed that it has taken over Caterham Cars, but will retain the Lotus branding until a decision is made in the Lotus vs. Lotus court case.
The deal announced today at Duxford Aerodrome gives the small British manufacturer of lightweight sportscars the opportunity to expand its brand throughout the world, using F1 as a marketing platform.
“Caterham has a unique place at the heart of the motoring world,” said Tony Fernandes. “As well as being proudly and staunchly British, it has an enviable and uniquely unblemished reputation within the industry for performance, handling and engineering excellence.
“Caterham Cars has remained wholly faithful to Colin Chapman’s philosophy of ‘less is more’, and the DNA of the original Seven can still be traced to the newest additions to Caterham’s product offering.
“It is already a successful business with sales across Europe, Japan, Australia and the Middle East, and under the guidance of the existing management team,we now have all the ingredients and the launch pad to further evolve that spirit and take Caterham to new exciting horizons with innovative products and greater global brand exposure.”
Whilst the rumoured name change and title sponsorship never materialised, it is thought that Fernandes could fall back on renaming the outfit Caterham if he doesn’t succeed in retaining the Team Lotus name, which is currently being disputed in court.
Discussion about this post